[SideburnsOfDoom]

This is exactly my worry: My heart says "get an instant pot, they're so cool, so versatile, you could cook so much with so little effort"

But I don't get one, since my head says: "Where would you put it in the small apartment? And anyway you're well fed already. It doesn't fill a gap."

I guess if you're really busy and/or have a lot of mouths to feed then they're better value?

[nickd2001]

Its particularly useful for a time-starved family. We often put a whole chicken or piece of brisket (beef) or turkey drumstick in it in the morning, with a load of herbs out of the garden such as bay leaf, rosemary, sage, chives, then leave it all day and its magically cooked by dinner. Can be PITA to wash the pot afterwards that's the only caveat. Main benefit is when you got a family, doubt I would've bothered when single. One more thing- you can cook liver in it and that tastes good that way especially with something acidic like tomato or onion added. Liver is something dirt cheap that a number of UK school kids were traumatised by as fairly disgusting, but done in a slow cooker that way, we all enjoy. ;)